MILL VALLEY, CA - JAN. 6: Visitors to Muir Woods National Monument in Mill Valley, Calif. admire the redwoods, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019, one day before the tourist attraction becomes the latest victim of the federal government shutdown. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

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MILL VALLEY, CA - JAN. 6: Umbrellas are in full force at Muir Woods National Monument in Mill Valley, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019, as a winter storm hits the tourist attraction closing tomorrow due to the federal government shutdown. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

MILL VALLEY, CA - JAN. 6: Visitors to Muir Woods National Monument in Mill Valley, Calif. take a group photo, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019, one day before the tourist attraction becomes the latest victim of the federal government shutdown. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

MILL VALLEY, CA - JAN. 6: Rain doesn't stop visitors to Muir Woods National Monument in Mill Valley, Calif. open for one final day, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019, before becoming the latest victim of the federal government shutdown. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

MILL VALLEY, CA - JAN. 6: Visitors to Muir Woods National Monument in Mill Valley, Calif. admire the redwoods, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019, one day before the tourist attraction becomes the latest victim of the federal government shutdown. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

MILL VALLEY, CA - JAN. 6: A tourist hides under a plastic bag at Muir Woods National Monument in Mill Valley, Calif., Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019, as a winter storm hits the tourist attraction which will be closing tomorrow due to the federal government shutdown. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

MILL VALLEY, CA - JAN. 6: A sign at Muir Woods National Monument in Mill Valley, Calif. prepares to swing shut at the end of business hours, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019, as the tourist attraction becomes the latest victim of the federal government shutdown. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

They were planning on visiting Alcatraz on Sunday during a short trip to San Francisco from their home in San Diego. But, with news of Muir Woods closing Monday due to the federal government shutdown, they had to rearrange their plans, she said, and quickly.

“We just found out yesterday,” she said. “We’re lucky they let us switch the tickets.”

In a standoff that continues to hold the federal budget hostage, the Muir Woods National Monument, one of the most iconic of Bay Area parks, will finally have to close Monday after managing to stay open for the first 16 days of the shutdown thanks to donations from park vendors, according to a post on the National Park Service’s website.

But, beginning Monday, the nearly 3,000 daily visitors will find no bathrooms, no gift shop, no open visitor facilities at all in the park. Some staff will be on site providing “essential services to ensure facilities are protected and (to) enforce federal law and policy,” said a statement by Charles Strickfaden, a spokesman for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which oversees a number of national parks and historic sites around the Bay Area..

“That will not change,” Strickfaden said. “Visitors should continue to anticipate (that) closure and parking violations that endanger park resources or other visitors will be enforced.”

Similar agreements with concessionaires are keeping Alcatraz Island and Stinson Beach open during the shutdown, but the same wasn’t true for Point Reyes National Seashore, where visitor centers are closed, along with some restrooms, and trash collection has stopped.

Ragan Grego was eager to test out a new camera at the Point Bonita Lighthouse in Point Reyes during a visit from Newport Beach, but was disappointed to see a closed gate, barring access to the historic site.

He and his brother, who lives in San Francisco, stopped at an overlook to snap pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge instead, his brother, Austin Grego said.

“It’s disappointing but we’re just trying to figure something else out,” he said.

Human waste piling up and mountains of trash have become so severe at the national seashore that certain areas of the park closed due to health hazards. Other national parks, such as Kings Canyon and Sequoia, have completely shut down, with officials citing similar health concerns.

And at Yosemite, one Yosemite Valley resident described the scene as a complete “free for all” with human feces, overflowing garbage, illegal off-roading and other destructive behavior in environmentally sensitive areas that have been overwhelmed as the shutdown continues into its 16th day.

That wasn’t apparent to Mandy and David Womack, who were visiting from Mississippi and are in town for the college football national championship at Levi’s Stadium. They flew in Thursday and made the trek to Yosemite the next day, but didn’t notice a ton of dysfunction.

“Everything seemed fine as far as we could tell,” Mandy Womack said. “It was beautiful.”

“And the best part about it is, we got in free because of the shutdown,” David Womack added.

Concessions are open at Yosemite, but many areas are closed, including all sledding and other snow play areas “due to human waste issues and lack of staffing,” a post on the park’s website reads. And, at least seven people have died at national park sites across the country since the shutdown began, according to the Washington Post, including a man at Yosemite who fell while hiking with a dog on a trail where dogs are prohibited.

The National Parks Service on Saturday took the “unprecedented” step of tapping entrance fees to pay for maintenance at its most popular parks, acknowledging in a memo that leaving them open to visitors without staff support is unsustainable and could pose irreparable harm, the Post reported.

The move, which some critics said could be illegal, shows the extent to which the Trump administration’s decision to keep the national park system open to visitors is straining its capacity and potentially exposing public lands to long-term damage. During such shutdowns under the Clinton and Obama administrations, the Park Service chose to block access to its sites rather than leave them open with a skeleton staff on board. Trump officials chose the opposite course, and as trash has begun to mount, and key habitat has been imperiled, the administration is struggling to manage the problems. It was unclear when, if ever, the use of entrance fees might be implemented at Muir Woods.

Many visitors at Muir Woods on Sunday were hoping the same issues don’t plague the redwood groves, too. Donna and Nikolai Leslie, of North Carolina, have annual national parks passes and make a point of visiting them wherever they go. They planned their trip in August, making reservations for parking months in advance.

“It’s not like we can come some other weekend,” Donna Leslie said, adding they were just glad they were able to make it, despite the rainy weather Sunday. “It’s disappointing to see in the papers about all the trash accumulating in the parks. People shouldn’t be doing that.”

They’ve already gotten accustomed to the “pack it in, pack it out” motto when it comes to trash, Donna Leslie said. Near Nikolai Leslie’s home in North Carolina, the park where he walks his Australian shepherd is closed, too, he said. He can still access the park, but some areas are blocked off and the bathrooms are no longer accessible.

Christine Morada, a Marin County resident, is hoping visitors can learn a little bit about environmental stewardship during the shutdown. The local is hoping tourists to Muir Woods will heed warnings about avoiding sensitive areas, not disturbing the wildlife and packing out trash.

“It’s good that people can come out and enjoy these areas,” she said. “It’s here for us to make use of, but people have to protect it, too.”

The Washington Post contributed to this report.

Know before you go:

Pack it in and pack it out: Take what you bring. That means all wrappers, papers, and other trash — even if it’s biodegradable. No one wants to stare at your banana peel or orange rind next to a seaside bluff or giant redwood tree.

When nature calls: Bring your own toilet paper and a bag to carry it out, rather than leaving it lying around, where animals can get into it. If you need to defecate, dig a hole and bury it.

Don’t trample on sensitive areas: The government shutdown is not an excuse to destroy the areas these parks are meant to protect. Be mindful of where you plant your feet, park or drive.

Leave it better than you left it: See trash? Pick it up and pack it out. Stewarding the parks is every visitor’s responsibility.

Erin Baldassari covers transportation, the Bay Area's housing shortage and breaking news. She served on the East Bay Times' 2017 Pulitzer Prize winning team for its coverage of the Ghost Ship fire. But most of all, she cares deeply about local news and hopes you do, too. If you'd like to support local journalism, please subscribe today.